5. Belamcanda Adanson, Fam. Pl. 2: 60. 1763 (as Belamkanda).
[name conserved]
Blackberry-lily [apparently based on a vernacular name in western India]
Peter Goldblatt
Gemmingia Kuntze; Pardanthus Ker Gawler
Herbs, perennial, from creeping rhizomes. Stems few- to several-branched. Leaves several; blade plane, ensiform. Inflorescences rhipidiate, several-flowered; spathes green, membranous distally. Flowers fleeting, erect, unscented, actinomorphic; tepals erect, basally connate into vestigial tube, light orange to reddish (rarely yellow), with scattered spots of darker pigment, obscurely clawed, ± equal, outer whorl slightly larger than inner; stamens diverging; filaments distinct; anthers diverging, not appressed to style branches; style slender, short, not extending between stamens, branching distally into lobes; lobes 3, flattened, stigmatic distally, stigmatic surfaces each subtended adaxially by paired flaps of tissue. Capsules ovoid-truncate, ± woody, apex obtuse. Seeds several, globose; seed coat blackish. x = 16.
Species 1 or 2 (1 in the flora): introduced; Asia including Japan; introduced in tropical Asia, the Pacific Islands, and parts of South America.
SELECTED REFERENCE
Mathew, B. 1990. The Iris, rev. ed. Portland.
